‘Every year I get new pictures’: the fight to preserve the memory of Tiananmen
Amid growing censorship at home under the rule of Xi Jinping, efforts to document the massacre of 4 June, 1989, are intensifying abroad
TL;DR
- Efforts to document the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre are increasing abroad due to censorship in China.
- The China Unofficial Archives (CUA) is a non-profit project launched in 2023 to protect censored and suppressed Chinese history.
- Helmut Opletal's photographs, capturing the hope and joy of protesters before the massacre, are among the materials hosted by CUA.
- The diaries of former CCP official Li Rui, containing his observations of the massacre, are housed at Stanford University's Hoover Institution after a legal dispute.
- Activists and organizations are using technology and international collaboration to preserve and share historical information about the event.
- Despite attempts at transnational repression and hacking, these efforts aim to ensure an uncensored version of modern Chinese history is accessible.